Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Tracking Lake Erie water snake in fight against invasive fish

Date:

March 19, 2012

Source:

University of Cincinnati

Summary:

Researchers have used a surgically implanted device to record the habits of snakes in their natural environment for the first time. This particular study holds promise in "keeping score" as Ohio's Lake Erie water snake defends its native habitat against an invasive fish species.

Share This

UC's Lauren Flick, a 19-year-old, triple-major senior, will present findings at an upcoming regional conference on the first-ever use of a surgically implanted device to record the habits of snakes in their natural environment. This particular study holds promise in "keeping score" as Ohio's Lake Erie water snake defends its native habitat against an invasive fish species.

Related Articles

Thanks to research by a University of Cincinnati undergraduate student and two team members, there's a new tool that's now been tested and found to work in continuously recording the habits of snakes.

This small-scale study is the first-ever use of Lotek Archival Tags (LATs) on snakes, since the LAT devices were originally developed for use in avian and fish species due to LATs' ability to measure temperature and pressure -- measuring pressure translates into altitude and depth.

UC's Lauren Flick, a triple-major pursuing simultaneous undergraduate degrees in biology, psychology and criminal justice, will present the findings of the snapshot study, "Comparing the Effectiveness of Lotek Archival Tags (LATs) in a Behavioral Study of the Lake Erie Water Snake," at the March 23-25 Midwest Ecology and Evolution Conference, a conference specifically for undergraduate and graduate student research that will draw representatives from regional schools.

Participating in the study with Flick were lead researcher Kristen Stanford, a doctoral student at Northern Illinois University and recovery plan coordinator for the Lake Erie water snake, and Lindsey Korfel, a student at Wittenberg University. Their research study was conducted during summer 2011 at Ohio State University's Stone Laboratory located on Lake Erie.

A Tool Beyond a Traditional Radio Transmitter

The traditional manner for tracking snakes' movements is primarily with a radio transmitter. In other words, a researcher would attach a location transmitter to a ground snake and then hope he or she could then stay or get within range over a period of time to visually determine its habits.

What Flick, Stanford and Korfel did was to catch two female Lake Erie water snakes (LEWS) and arrange for the implantation of LATs. Importantly, the LATs record and store data on the snakes over time, such that it's not necessary for a researcher to be within visual range of the snake. In fact, a researcher could leave the snake undisturbed in its natural habits and environment for days, even weeks, at a time when using a LAT. (During this study, the snakes were not harmed, and the LATs were removed at the end of the study.)

"This was proof of concept that use of LATs in reptiles is a viable research method," said Flick, a resident of Cincinnati's Green Hills community. "For a study like ours, it's harder and less effective to rely solely on using the traditional radio transmitter on a water snake moving in the depths of the Great Lakes. And even when using the average transmitter with a ground snake, you have to stay within about 50 meters for the tracking technology to work. That kind of close tracking could also serve to disturb the very habits a researcher is hoping to observe."

Lending Support to the Lake Erie Water Snake in the Fight Against the Invasive Round Gobi Fish

The Lake Erie Water Snake (LEWS), found only in the western Lake Erie waters of Ohio and Canada and only recently removed from the list of federally endangered and threatened species, is estimated to number more than 8,000 adults. Its population size had fallen to about 1,500 adults in the mid-1990s -- very low because they were often killed by humans and because of loss or degradation of habitat on the shoreline or on the Lake Erie islands where they are native.

Explained Flick, "Basically, the islands and shorelines are an important part of the snakes' habitat. They live on land and only forage in the water. Humans on the Lake Erie islands didn't, for a long time, see value in having snakes around, even though we now know that these nonpoisonous snakes were and are a valuable part of the ecosystem."

And while those numbers have recovered sufficiently to remove the species from the endangered status, it's important to understand how the species is faring in terms of foraging, maintaining body temperature and finding appropriate mating, resting and hibernating environments because the LEWS are a major player in combating the invasive round gobi fish.

The round gobies, a bottom-dwelling species, are considered very harmful because they are voracious nest predators of many of Lake Erie's native game fish and bottom-dwelling fish, and there are now estimated to be billions of the round gobies in Lake Erie. However, as it turns out, the native Lake Erie water snakes will eat round gobies.

And even though the student research was a snapshot involving just a pair of snakes, they found some intriguing results recorded by the LAT devices.

Said Flick, "Previous studies have estimated that the LEWS spend only 7 percent of the time foraging for food. The snakes that we studied actually spent 20-25 percent of the time foraging. One of the snakes even went out foraging at about midnight, which is unusual because the LEWS are not normally nocturnal."

And since it's estimated that 90 percent of the LEWS' diet consists of round gobi fish, more time eating by the LEWS should translate into fewer round gobies.

Story Source:

The above story is based on materials provided by University of Cincinnati. The original article was written by M.B. Reilly. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.

University of Cincinnati. "Tracking Lake Erie water snake in fight against invasive fish." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 March 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120319111825.htm>.

University of Cincinnati. (2012, March 19). Tracking Lake Erie water snake in fight against invasive fish. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 3, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120319111825.htm

University of Cincinnati. "Tracking Lake Erie water snake in fight against invasive fish." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120319111825.htm (accessed March 3, 2015).

More From ScienceDaily

More Plants & Animals News

Featured Research

Mar. 3, 2015 — While studying a ground-nesting bird population near El Reno, Okla., a research team found that stress during a severe weather outbreak of May 31, 2013, had manifested itself into malformations in ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — The 3-D printing scene, a growing favorite of do-it-yourselfers, has spread to the study of plasma physics. With a series of experiments, researchers have found that 3-D printers can be an important ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Most people consume more salt than they need and therefore have a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, which are the two leading causes of death worldwide. But a new study reveals that dietary ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — By examining the forces that the segments of mosquito legs generate against a water surface, researchers have unraveled the mechanical logic that allows the mosquitoes to walk on water, which may ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Pediatric otolaryngologists and surgeons are concerned with parents getting the wrong message regarding the safety/desirability of letting babies and young children eat peanuts to prevent them from ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Researchers have developed a new way of rapidly screening yeasts that could help produce more sustainable biofuels. The new technique could also be a boon in the search for new ways of deriving ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — Similar to humans and animals, plants possess an innate immune system that protects them from invading pathogens. Molecular structures that only occur in pathogens enable their recognition and ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — For almost a century, scientists have been puzzled by a process that is crucial to much of the life in Earth's oceans: Why does calcium carbonate, the tough material of seashells and corals, ... full story

Mar. 3, 2015 — To simulate chimp behavior, scientists created a computer model based on equations normally used to describe the movement of atoms and molecules in a confined space. An interdisciplinary research ... full story

Featured Videos

Rare Goblin Shark Found in Australia

AFP (Mar. 3, 2015) — A goblin shark, a rare sea creature described as an &apos;alien of the deep&apos; is found off Australia and delivered to the Australian Museum in Sydney. Duration: 01:25
Video provided by AFP

Zookeepers Copy Animal Poses In Hilarious Viral Photos

Buzz60 (Mar. 2, 2015) — Zookeepers at the Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh, Australia decided to take some of their favorite animal photos and recreate them by posing just like the animals. Jen Markham (@jenmarkham) has the story.
Video provided by Buzz60

Related Stories

Aug. 7, 2014 — If bighead and silver carp were to establish in Lake Erie, local fish biomass is not likely to change beyond observations recorded in the last 3 decades, according to scientists. "Bighead and ... full story

Feb. 19, 2014 — Lake Superior is more than 90 percent iced over, and experts say it may be covered completely before winter's end. Someone has proposed a hike across Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron and Lake Erie ... full story

Jan. 10, 2012 — Scientists have studied Lake Erie over the past five winters during mid-winter, a time when the lake is more than 70 percent covered by ice. They've documented very high concentrations of algae ... full story

Jan. 10, 2011 — Large hypoxic zones low in oxygen long have been thought to have negative influences on aquatic life, but a new study shows that while these so-called dead zones have an adverse affect, not all ... full story

May 20, 2010 — Scientists are reporting that mercury levels in a popular species of game fish in Lake Erie are increasing after two decades of steady decline. The study is the most comprehensive to date on mercury ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.